President Obama, along with Malia and Sasha, sing "Happy Birthday" to first lady Michelle Obama as they arrive to take part in a community service project at Stuart Hobson Middle School in Washington on Jan. 17, 2011. Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty Images

President Obama, Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha greet Christmas elves as they attend the Christmas in Washington concert at the National Building Museum on Dec. 9, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Pool

No matter how tall they get the Obama girls the First Family appear to remain close-knit. President Barack Obama, arrives at Aldergrove International Airport with, from left, daughter Malia, first lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Sasha on June 17, 2013, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Evan Vucci, AP

Sasha, left, and Malia Obama, walk to their car after they disembarked from Air Force One at the Tegel airport in Berlin Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Obama arrived for a two-day official visit to Germany. Fashion trend setters since they arrived in Washington...one new item in the girls wardrobe can set off a retail bonanza. Markus Schreiber, AP

Honestly, a certain solemnity should be held during the pardoning of a turkey's life! The girls strike the appropriate demeanor in 2013 during the pardoning ceremony. National Turkey Federation Chairman John Burkel, left, of Thief River Falls, Minnesota, keeps the 2013 National Thanksgiving Turkey still as President Obama pardons "Popcorn" with his daughters Sasha Obama, 12, and Malia Obama, 15 on Nov. 27, 2013. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, right, get into the holiday spirit along with daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, during TNT's 'Christmas in Washington' program which benefits the Children's National Health System, in Washington, on Dec. 15, 2013. Martin H. Simon / POOL, EPA

Little elves can steal the show even from he First Family! President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha (R) and Malia (L), pose for photographs alongside children dressed as elves, who are or were patients at Children's National Medical Center on Dec. 15, 2013. Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

First Lady Michelle Obama, center, her daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, second from left, are accompanied by Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, third from right, watch students demonstrating remote control mechanical robots at the Beijing Normal School, a school that prepares students to attend universities abroad in Beijing, China on March 21, 2014. Andy Wong, AP

Sasha, left, and Malia Obama, walk across the tarmac with First lady Michelle Obama, before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Aug. 30, 2014. The first family traveled to Westchester County, NY., to attend the wedding ceremony of White House chef Sam Kass and MSNBC host Alex Wagner. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Sasha, left, and Malia made the news recently when Elizabeth Lauten communications director for U.S. Rep. Steve Fincher, R-Tenn., made controversial comments about their demeanor and appearance as they listen to their father pardoning the National Thanksgiving Turkey at the White House on Nov. 2014. Michael Reynolds, EPA

President Obama, joined by his daughters Malia, right, and Sasha, center, speaks at the White House, during the presidential turkey pardon ceremony, an annual Thanksgiving tradition. Elizabeth Lauten, wrote that the girls should have shown more class. Lauten later resigned and apologized for the comments on her Facebook page that had drawn harsh criticism. It is a long-held tradition that the children of the Presidents are off-limits to intense scrutiny. Jacquelyn Martin, AP

First lady Michelle Obama, left, watches as her daughter Malia adjusts the collar for her sister Sasha, right, as they walk out to welcome the Official White House Christmas Tree ceremony at the White House on Nov. 28, 2014. This year's White House Christmas Tree, is a White Fir grown by Chris Botek, Christmas Tree Farmer from Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Lehighton, Penn., his father Francis Botek is third from left. Dogs Bo Obama, left, and Sunny Obama also participated. Susan Walsh, AP

President Obama, right, and his daughters from center to right, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama, join host Dwayne Johnson, from left, and performer Christina Perri, on the stage singing the Christmas carol during the taping of the annual 2014 Christmas in Washington presentation at the National Building Museum in Washington on Dec. 14, 2014. Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

Malia Obama participates in a literacy service project at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, D.C., in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, on Jan. 19, 2015. Pool photo by Martin H. Simon

Sasha Obama, left, walks with her father from Marine One back to the White House on March 7, 2015. Michelle Obama, her mother Marian Robinson and Malia Obama follow. The Obamas were returning from Selma, Ala. Pool photo by Dennis Brack

Malia Obama, left, waves to her cousin Princeton forward Leslie Robinson as she walks to her seat with her father. Princeton played Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 21, 2015, in College Park, Md. Patrick Semansky, AP

Malia Obama, left, sits with her cousin Avery Robinson and father Barack Obama at the Green Bay vs. Princeton women's college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA tournament, March 21, 2015, in College Park, Md. President Obama's niece Leslie Robinson plays for Princeton. Pool photo by MIchael Reynolds

The Obama ladies arrive at Venice's airport, June 19, 2015. Michelle Obama, who is visiting Italy with her daughters on the second leg of a European trip, will be meeting with soldiers and their families at the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza, thanking them for their service. Luigi Costantini, AP

U.S. First lady Michelle Obama, her daughters Malia, right, and Sasha listen to U.S. artist Joan Jonas during a visit to the American pavilion at the Venice Biennale contemporary art show, in Venice, Italy, June 20, 2015. Andrea Merola, AP

Has it really been four years since Malia and Sasha Obama bounded into the White House?

Who could forget 7-year-old Sasha's high-pitched squeal when her father appeared on a giant video screen at the 2008 Democratic convention and she asked him,"Daddy, what city are you in?"

Or when Malia, 10, called out, "I love you, Daddy."

When President Obama took the oath Monday for his second term, those adorable little girls in their adorable little frocks were gone.

In their place were two stylish young ladies. Malia, 14, now in high school, stands nearly as tall as her mother's 5 feet, 11 inches. And like her mother, she's making an impression in trendy outfits.

Sasha, 11, doesn't seem to have lost any of her spunk.

When the Obama family started their day at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House, the girls stepped into the next phase of their White House lives with poise and still some of that hijinks.

As the president's limo pulled up to the church, the Obama daughters and their grandmother got out of the car behind it. Malia sneaked up to her dad and shouted Boo!" as he got out.

"You scared me!" he told her, and then the first family went inside.

"They seem very graceful," says Doug Wead, an adviser to former presidents George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, and author of All the Presidents' Children, which looked at the family lives of the nation's presidents. "It speaks to their confidence, which also comes from their parents."

He says that confidence will come in handy as the girls get older, because presidential children often struggle to define themselves separately from their high-achieving parents.

The Obamas have done something that eluded other first families, he says: They appear to be a functional family with parents who set rules and provide structure and discipline.

"That's practically unheard of," he says. "First families by their nature are dysfunctional."

Chris Cumberbatch, 52, in town for the inaugural events, remembers Michelle Obama and the cute little girls from four years ago. He says it's been a joy to see the first family grow into their role.

"It seems the girls have matured and grown into stellar young ladies," he says. "It's enlightening to see an African-American family in the White House who are movers and shakers."

"They were a lot less kid-like," says Tracy Barnes, a Maryland state auditor who came to the inauguration with her 13-year-old daughter Bria Petway. She says the two seemed relaxed and comfortable in the public eye, noting that Malia is the embodiment of her mother.

"I think they are being groomed, almost like a royal family," Barnes says.

Wead says presidential families are famous for indulging their children and spoiling them.

Or, in the case of James Roosevelt, the oldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ignoring them.

Wead tells the story of how the younger Roosevelt complained to his mother, Eleanor, that he never got time to talk with his father. Eleanor told him to do what she did: Make an appointment.

After the meeting, James Roosevelt said he'd never do that again. His father read memos the entire time, Wead says.

The president and first lady talk frequently about their girls, but they also insist that their daughters be photographed only during public events.

The girls have little to no presence online. They are not allowed to have Facebook accounts, Michelle Obama has said.

It will be fun watching them come of age, Wead says.

"They'll learn to drive," he says, and the president seems to be such a hands-on dad that he can see him getting in the car to teach them.

Obama himself often quips about how his daughters are growing up.

When he visited a Master Lock factory in Milwaukee last year to discuss American manufacturing, he got a laugh from the workers when he told them, "As I was looking at some of the really industrial-size locks, I was thinking about the fact that I am a father of two girls who are soon going to be in high school, and that it might come in handy to have these super locks."